Ethiopia breaks record of planting trees to fight climate change



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Tree planting exercise

Legend

Some government offices have been closed to allow officials to take part in the campaign

Ethiopia has planted over 200 million trees in one day, according to the authorities, according to a world record.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is leading the project, which aims to counter the effects of deforestation and climate change in the drought-prone country.

Some public offices were closed to allow officials to participate.

According to the UN, Ethiopia's forest cover increased from 35% in the early 20th century to just over 4% in the 2000s.

Mr. Abiy has launched the tree planting exercise as part of his Green Legacy initiative, which is participating in 1,000 sites across the country.

Officials were charged with counting planted plants, reports Kalkidan Yibeltal of the BBC in Addis Ababa, the capital.

Ethiopia's Minister of Innovation and Technology, Getahun Mekuria, tweeted about progress made:

The goal is to plant a total of four billion trees.

Our reporter said promotional videos had been broadcast on state media to encourage the public to plant trees and take care of them.

Legend

Prime Minister Abiy participates in the tree planting campaign

The current world record of planting trees in one day is held by India, which has used 800,000 volunteers to plant more than 50 million trees in 2016.

Mr. Abiy's critics say he uses the campaign to distract the public from the challenges his government is facing, including ethnic conflicts that have forced some 2.5 million people to leave their homes.

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